Episode 139: The Best of 2019 Awards (Part Three)

The Best of 2019 Awards: Part Three

Welcome to the penultimate episode in
our Best of 2019 Awards series! We’re reaching the end of our yearly
retrospective, so it’s time to discuss some of our most anticipated
categories! There’s only one more part left, so we packed part three
with a smattering of our fan-favorite categories as well. On this
episode of the Best of 2019 Awards, we deliver the verdict on
categories such as the Most Unique Game, Best Visual Style and
Aesthetic, Best New Game That Looks Like an Old Game, Hardest Game,
and more!

You can listen to part three of our
Best of 2019 Awards podcast by using the player at the top of the
page, or by streaming it through any of your favorite podcast
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Best of 2019 Awards Part Three Show
Notes

Here are the full
show notes for Super Gamecast 64’s Best of 2019 Awards Part Three.
Below, you can find complete nominee lists and category explanations.
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The Best
Downloadable Content of 2019

Full releases are
great and all, but there’s nothing quite like a quality piece of
downloadable content. Great DLCs bring us back to the games we loved
the most, adding onto the original experience in fun, new ways.
Throughout 2019, we found ourselves playing more DLC than ever, in
both solo and multiplayer experiences. This year, we thought it was
important to discuss these great DLCs and pick out our absolute
favorites.

The Best Fighter Pass of 2019

The fighting game genre has recently adopted the “fighter pass” system in full, offering players a full schedule of new characters for one low price. Most of the fighters included in these passes are available as single purchases, but we wanted to award the fighter pass that had the most bang for its buck. Whether through variety in characters, a wealth of content, or great attention to detail, these fighter passes were good enough to get a nod.

Nominees:

Mortal Kombat 11 (All Major Consoles)

Dragon Ball FighterZ (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo Switch)

Best Visual Style and Aesthetic of 2019

On our Best of 2019 Awards: Part Two, we discussed the games that wowed us with their realistic and impressive visuals. This category is similar in nature, but the following nominees all caught our eye due to psychedelic lighting, awesome presentation, and unique art styles. While they might not be the best looking games of the year in terms of visual fidelity, these titles offered a unique visual experience unlike anything else.

Nominees:

Crackdown 3 (PC, Xbox One)

Far Cry New Dawn (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

Wargroove (All Major Consoles)

Yoshi’s Crafted World (Nintendo Switch)

Dreams Early Access (PlayStation 4)

Riverbond (All Major Consoles)

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer (Nintendo Switch)

Blazing Chrome (All Major Consoles)

River City Girls (All Major Consoles)

Control (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

Borderlands 3 (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Nintendo Switch)

Creature in the Well (PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

Death Stranding (PlayStation 4)

Best Online Capabilities of 2019

Almost every game has some sort of internet connectivity nowadays. Whether you’re popping into other player’s games, competing in online arenas, or simply pinging a server to check for updates, it’s hard to find a strictly offline experience. In such a wide sea of online capabilities, some games stand out from the pack. Through inventive use of user-generated content, enhanced community structures, or excellent multiplayer implementation, these games wowed us with their great use of online services.

Nominees:

Trials Rising (All Major Consoles)

Wargroove (All Major Consoles)

Dreams Early Access (PlayStation 4)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo Switch)

Death Stranding (PlayStation 4)

The Most Unique Game of 2019

Every year, piles and piles of sequels, remasters, and spin-off games are released. We get treated to numerous AAA first-person shooters, action titles, and more. However, without a doubt, some of our favorite games every year are those that are weird, wacky, and wholly unique. These nominees defied genre norms, presenting the player with original gameplay experiences and fresh takes on familiar formulas.

Nominees:

Tetris 99 (Nintendo Switch)

Dreams Early Access (PlayStation 4)

Blood & Truth (PlayStation VR)

Outer Wilds (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

Supermarket Shriek (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch)

Control (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

Creature in the Well (PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

Afterparty (All Major Consoles)

Ringfit Adventure (Nintendo Switch)

Untitled Goose Game (All Major Consoles)

Baba is You (PC, Nintendo Switch)

The Best New Game That Looks Like an Old Game

If you couldn’t tell from the “Super” or “64” parts of our show and website name, we have a soft spot for retro games. Classic pixel art and vibrant retro graphics are a surefire way to our hearts, so we whipped this category up just to make things difficult for ourselves. There were a lot of games that released in 2019 that used retro-looking graphics, and this list of nominees includes many of our favorites. We had to pick just one winner and runner-up though, which was an achievement to say the least. We recommend you check out all of these nominees, regardless of which one took the top spot.

Nominees:

Tetris 99 (Nintendo Switch)

Wargroove (All Major Consoles)

Full Metal Furies (PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer (Nintendo Switch)

Stranger Things 3: The Game (All Major Consoles)

Blazing Chrome (All Major Consoles)

Witcheye (Mobile)

River City Girls (All Major Consoles)

Baba is You (PC, Nintendo Switch)

The Hardest Game of 2019

While
it’s nice to have a relaxing, cathartic gameplay experience that
eases the stresses of everyday life, there’s always room for a good
challenge. Unfortunately, not all games provide a “good challenge”,
resulting in crushing difficulty, unfair enemies, and gameplay
padding galore. For the purposes of this category, we’ve chosen games
that were of decent quality and provided a level of difficulty
between incredibly maddening and satisfyingly tough.

Nominees:

Trials Rising (All Major Consoles)

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

Tetris 99 (Nintendo Switch)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

Gears of War 5 (PC, Xbox One)

Borderlands 3 (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

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